Time Flies

I was staring out the kitchen window this morning, watching it rain. I like the rain, as long as I don't have to go anywhere, but it tends to put me in a pretty contemplative mood. It's a nice, cool, day today-about 70-with overcast skies and a slight, but ever-so-steady rainfall. A good day to be curled up on the couch with a mug of tea and a good book...doubt I'll get to do much of that.

But this morning, staring out the window, I was thinking about how much more I appreciate the rain in central Texas than I did when we lived in Houston. It rains a lot in Houston...But that thought sent me down memory lane and I realized that it's been over 2 years since we moved to Houston, and a year and a half since we moved back to Austin. That blows my mind...

It's strange, but I'm still rather conflicted about that move. Houston is not the town for us, of that I am certain. We love Austin, with it's independently owned businesses and it's quirks and it's artists and hippies. But I had a good time in Houston. I miss terribly our friends there, and the times we had. It was nice not to have to make a trek to see Clint's family (though it was quite a trek to see mine), and I really loved my job.

But that 7 months was a pretty dark time in our marriage...Right after I accepted my job, Clint decided he didn't want to go through with the move. He suffered from a pretty deep depression that started before we even moved (actually influenced why we moved), and we fought constantly. He had a very hard time finding a job he liked (or a job, period). We never found a church where we felt at home at (largely because Clint was determined that we were returning to Austin, and did not want to get connected and then leave, again). He talks about our time there as if we were wrongly sentenced to purgatory.

But I am always one to make lemonade. It is not in my nature to dwell on the negatives. And so my memories are overwhelmingly filled with friends, and family, and Astros games and shopping and fun times. So, on rainy days, I remember Houston fondly, and I miss our good times there.